While I have made every effort to recommend only companies I like, I can not and will not be held liable for any problems you may have in dealing with these businesses and organizations. I encourage you to read all contracts thoroughly and seek legal counsel in all matters of your business.
Many companies can give the impression that they have exclusive arrangements with these and other distributors, but these opportunities exist for everyone in most cases anyway. While not quite being dishonest, it's rather misleading. In reality, you don't even need to go through a CD replication company to gain access to these distributors and promoters! Keep this in mind when searching for a music distribution partner.
Weedshare.com : [DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION] An aggressively expanding company using revolutionary
Moozikoo.com : [CD DISTRIBUTION, CD PROMOTION IN RUSSIA, USA AND OTHER NATIONS] A bilingual (Russian and English) music Etailer. Their target market is the Russian-speaking community within the United States and consumers within the emerging markets of the former Soviet Union (especially Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus), as well as specific English-speaking consumer groups. Moozikoo works with RTV-International (a Russian language television broadcasting company) to advertise on specific channels it offers within North America, Europe, and Israel. RTV-I reaches an estimated 11 million viewers in North America alone via the Dish Network and Time-Warner Cable. Total viewers worldwide is estimated at 50 million.
CD Baby : CD DISTRIBUTION] Only 5 stocked CDs required to get going, they keep $4 per CD and you set the price. We strongly recommend CD Baby for physical distribution of CDs. We are hoping to see changes in their digital distribution contract, so we aren't able to endorse digital distribution with them at this time. There isn't even a contract to sign for physical CD distribution with them, so we are rockin' in that respect.
Amazon.com : [CD DISTRIBUTION] Among the Web's largest media distributors. We are linking you to MusicDistribution.com's review of Amazon.com because it gives an excellent review of the pros and cons of Amazon and a thorough overview of their service. At the end of the article is the link to the marketing program offered by Amazon. Note: Borders.com will now take you directly to Amazon.com. They say this is a partnership. Ok, whatever. No more Borders.com. Also, in case you hadn't heard, Amazon swallowed CDnow.com a long time ago. Hey, even VirginMega.com is now part of Amazon. Do you see a trend forming here? Guess that means that by hooking up with Amazon.com, you are plugging into a very broad network. We've seen competitors list these out like it meant something significant (things that make you go, "Hmmm!" or should at any rate). If for some reason the link above stops working, tell us and then click here to go to Amazon.com's Advantage program directly. We still feel you should click on the first link. The overview will help you a lot.
GarageBand.com : [MP3 PROMOTION, CD DISTRIBUTION] "Think you have what it takes?" This phrase pretty much sums it up. This globally-recognized platform provides a truly unbiased opportunity for artists to prove their claims of superiority. It uses listener ratings to discover the best emerging music. Thirteen of GarageBand.com's top bands have been signed by major labels, and many more have scored licensing deals (as a matter of opinion, this might even be better than a major label record deal). At the very least, we feel that participation in this site's contests and ongoing competition will probably boost your Web site traffic and increase your overall exposure exponentially. Competition categories include Alternative, Blues, Dance, Electronic, Folk/Country, Funk/Soul/R&B, Hard Rock, Jazz, Metal, Pop, Pop/Rock, Punk Rock, Rap-Rock, Rap/Hip-Hop, and Rock. Knock 'em dead! If people like what they hear, they can also buy your CD.
CornerBand.com : [MP3 PROMOTION] Give a song away, get exposure to 150 million people world-wide via Kazaa. This is a safe method of getting your music cross-referenced with famous artists in client searches on Kazaa with without attracting the attention of the RIAA. You see, if you do this yourself, the RIAA might unwittingly take you for a law-breaking copyright infringer, mistaking your song as one belonging to an artist they represent. But, by going through CornerBand.com, you avoid this potential problem altogether. Also, your songs are protected using Microsoft's Digital Rights Management technology. Cool. Signup is free. WARNING: DO NOT use CornerBand.com to sell CDs through their alignment with CDStreet.com. MusicDistribution.com states that CDStreet has NOT been paying its artists regularly or on time of late, so they have been removed from their recommended sites (please note that our recommendations differ from theirs in many cases). They say "Don't sign up if you expect to be paid." We, at MusicBootCamp.com, have reviewed the CDStreet contract and have some concerns over it anyway. We suggest using CornerBand.com only as a promotional launch pad for Kazaa sharing, and no more. Obviously, don't upload all your songs. Pick one to sacrifice to the MP3 gods and leave it at that. Make sure it's a good one, so it will attract the kind of attention you deserve. Don't forget to put all your relevant meta data in your MP3 before uploading, or you'll be missing out on a lot of free promotion. Pack the MP3 with as much data about you as you can. Use iTunes on a Mac or PC to encode this information and rip the MP3. (Use MP3 and not AAC in this case. AAC is higher compression quality but not a universal standard yet and not compatible with CornerBand.com.) iTunes is a free application available at Apple.com . You can also use WinAmp on PC, but we love iTunes (sorry WinAmp), and iTunes is now available for PC users.
SoundClick.com : [MP3 PROMOTION] Another ratings-driven Web site with a link option to your own Web site (record sales anyone?). Free service, but there are additional features you can add on for a fee (we haven't looked into those).
Vitaminic.com : [MP3 PROMOTION, MP3 DISTRIBUTION] This global company offers a strong reach into European markets. Musicians should follow the "Musician! Enter the backstage" area (which can be kind of hard to spot; it's in the upper right). We haven't gone through it with a fine tooth comb, but after a cursory glance, we were very impressed with the agreement. You can dictate which if your MP3s are paid and which are offered free. Links to your Web page or management company can be added to your display page. Looks good to us! By the way, Vitaminic also now owns IUMA and Peoplesound. Go straight to Vitaminic, that's the flagship of the company, although IUMA is still alive an kicking. It might be worth adding yourself to there as well, but we are keeping our focus on Vitaminic.
FestivalProductions.net [TALENT SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES, SHAMELESS LIVE SELF-PROMOTION] Festival Productions, Inc. provides access to well over a dozen different festivals including the Newport Folk Festival, Essence Music Festival, Hampton Jazz Festival, JVC Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival and many others. The opportunity is there for you to pursue—no secret handshake required.
Music Submit [PRESS RELEASE SERVICE] Music Submit sends your materials electronically to TARGETED resources that match your style of music, saving you hundreds of hours and dollars because you don't have to do the research or send out press kits. Pricing is tiered so that getting started costs very little.
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